€6 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 



decoration, and the planting of these I found of decided interest. I suppose M. Vacherot, 

 who runs all these things, gave a general superintendence to them, but he certainly did 

 not go into many particulars. They seemed to be planted with a view to obtaining a gen- 

 €ral effect of gaiety and glow of color, and they certainly did have it to an admirable 

 extent. They don't care much what colors come together, or what kinds of foliage come 

 together, as we do in America, where we would think it a very serious matter if we should 

 see purple phlox with scarlet geraniums near it. In this kind of work, the French 

 authorities do not seem to regard trifles like small errors in color, and so long as they get a 

 general effect which has its influence on the whole surrounding and general scheme, they are 

 satisfied. I took down some planting schemes in some of these beds, and will see if I cannot 

 decipher one or two of them for you, as it might be of interest in a general way: 



Here are six meters of flower-bedding about seven feet wide. Six meters, of course, 

 is about twenty feet — less than twenty feet. Down the middle is a miscellaneous collec- 

 tion of things: California privet, tall fuschias, altheas, herbaceous sunflowers, pelargon- 

 iums, six feet high, planted without any particular arrangement. On each edge is a line 

 of scarlet geraniums. Between, is a mixture of almost anything: Yellow and crimson 

 coleus, gladioli, Rudbeckia birta, ageratum, white geranium, monarda, white phlox, 

 etc. It is no use giving you the exact order, because there is no exact order. Any old 

 order does, but the important thing about it is that, generally speaking, it all looks well, 

 and it makes a gorgeous variety of color which, I suppose, is beautiful from the archi- 

 tect's point of view. Flowers don't matter a bit, but the general scheme of decoration 

 is thoroughly good and effective. As for the colors, their indifference to some people's 

 notions of color-schemes is remarkable. I was very much surprised to find about one 

 hundred and fifty yards of scarlet and pink geraniums planted between the trees in the 

 Avenue de I'Observatoire, which some of you will no doubt remember — ^beds about seven 

 feet wide with enough geraniums to fill them for about one hundred and fifty yards, and 

 yet it really was very effective. Ever since that I have had a good deal of respect for the 

 geranium, more than I ever had before. I have had a period in my mental development 

 when I was inclined to despise bedding plants, but I now think they are as good material 

 for decoration as anything else, and will produce effects that cannot be produced with 

 anything else. 



The other parks in Paris are very interesting, but they do not contain many features, 

 I think, on which I can make any extended remarks of interest. The most interesting 

 is the Pare des Buttes Chaumont, and there, again, if you happen to go on a Sunday, 

 it is perfectly marvelous to see the gardens and the people there, and the way in which 

 they respect the park, and the way they keep off the grass, and don't tear down the trees 

 or flowers. I suppose, if we work hard enough and long enough, we shall get our public 

 into a similar frame of mind some of these days. I spent a good deal of time in going to 

 other places — of course, Versailles. I went there several times and arrived at conclusions 

 which are, probably, more or less heretical. I don't know what landscape architects think 

 about Versailles, because I hardly ever talked to any of them about it; but the general 

 opinion among architects is that Versailles is something beyond which it is impossible 

 to go. To me, while you can't help admiring its magnificence and its splendid adaptation 

 to its purpose as a setting to the Court of Louis XIV, or as a work of art, it is a thing, 

 in many ways, which should not be. In the first place, instead of being as inexpensive as 

 possible, — ^which I think, in a general way, any kind of work of art should be, — it was 



